1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal with which a videophone call can be made.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with the development of mobile communications systems, transmission rates have been improved both in an up direction from a terminal that executes mobile communication to a base station and in a down direction from a base station to the terminal. More specifically, in a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (IS-856-A) system, it is possible to execute communication at a maximum rate of 1.8 Mbps in the up direction and at a maximum rate of 3.1 Mbps in the down direction. This enables larger volumes of data to be transmitted to and received from various communications services.
In a videophone call, for example, a cell-phone, it is possible to transmit and receive: an image encoded at a bit rate of 48 kbps and at a frame rate of 15 fps (the number of frames per second) using a predetermined coding format (e.g., MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 4, H.263, etc.); and voice encoded at a bit rate of 12.2 kbps using a predetermined coding format (e.g., AMR-NB (Adaptive multi-rate Narrowband), etc.).
Further, in response to the support of QoS (Quality of Service), it becomes possible to switch, depending on communication conditions, the quality of providing a videophone call. For example, when the communication conditions are not good since the infrastructure is used with high frequently, a low-bit image can be transmitted and received by encoding the image at a bit rate of 24 kbps and at a frame rate of 7.5 fps.
Additionally, as a technology for making a videophone call using a cell-phone, such a technology has recently been proposed. JP-A-2006-5570 discloses that allows a sender to confirm an image before sending and being displayed on a display section of a cell-phone of a receiver through the videophone
According to the technology disclosed in JP-A-2006-5570, a transmission start instruction signal for instructing to start sending an image displayed on a display section is outputted, and according to the transmission start instruction signal thus outputted, start of a videophone call with a call recipient is controlled. This allows the sender to confirm an image to be sent before starting to send the image, thereby preventing the sender from accidentally sending an image that he/she does not want a receiver to view.